“Eleven sucked,” says DorkySon.
“Eleven sucks for everyone,” DorkyDad and I say simultaneously.
We laugh at this, sitting around the table after DorkySon has finished eating the birthday meal he requested – pasta followed by red velvet cake. There is an element of truth in our response. Eleven really is a tricky age; one when you are pulled back to childhood one moment and propelled forward to your teens the next. Continue reading
When people ask us what traits DorkySon has inherited from us – which they often do, it seems to be one of those questions to which parents are expected to have a well-thought out response – it is always a fairly easy answer.
“He gets his energy from me,” says DorkyDad with a hint of pride in his voice. “Lots of energy. And he gets his stubbornness from his mother.”
“Determination,” I always say with a smile. “It’s determination, not stubbornness. It’s a good thing.”
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I’ve been in a rut this week.
After the thrilling burst of productivity that always follows the school holidays – a fantastic two weeks when I took great joy each day in ticking off every item on my task list – things seem to have ground to a halt.
It could be the weather. Lord, this winter feels like it’s never going to end. I wrote a post in early June about how charmed I was by the snow on kunanyi. Eight weeks on, the novelty has worn off.
The season isn’t lasting any longer than normal – not really – but the cold this year has been intense, relentless. It hasn’t been the beautiful crisp cold accompanied by bright sunshine that tempts you out of the house. It’s been mean, damp cold that creeps right into your bone marrow and makes it hard to crawl out of bed in the mornings. Continue reading
I don’t plan to duplicate content very often between my work website and this blog, but I’ve got a post up over on my writing site today that I think will hold equal appeal to the freelance folks who follow me over there, and the parenting folks who follow me over here.
In what is definitely my only Pinterest-worthy parenting moment ever, I’m making a boredom box to help us get through the summer holidays.
If you’d like to read about it, and get 150+ suggestions for things you can do with your kids during the holidays, head on over and have a read.
It was a teasing start to spring in Tasmania, with several weeks that lurched between glorious sunshine one day and snow the next. I got a little over-excited when we finally had a few warm days in a row, and put all our winter clothes away in the cupboard. Goodbye to those puff jackets and Ugg boots for another year, I thought to myself with glee. The next week I was hauling them right back out again.
Now the warm weather has arrived for good though (crosses fingers tightly) we’re taking full advantage of it. Despite applying copious amounts of Factor 50 every time we leave the house, I’ve already had my first sunburn, and DorkySon is taking every opportunity to swim in the river. First time in, he was fully clothed. Second time round he was better prepared, with beach clothes and a bodyboard, but a rogue wave washed a pebble into his ear and the resulting pain cut his adventure short.
No worries: with the official start of summer this Friday, I’m confident there will be more swimming days ahead. Continue reading
Dorkymum | Stories from Tasmania 